


Love, Discovered

by ConsumedMoon



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Series
Genre: (for a little while), Denial of Feelings, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Mild Language, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22396666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsumedMoon/pseuds/ConsumedMoon
Summary: Rick doesn't quite understand Evelyn, or the sudden feelings she inspires in him.Then one night in the ruins of Hamunaptra, he gets it.
Relationships: Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 87





	Love, Discovered

Rick O’Connell was not quite sure what to make of her. Evelyn Carnahan was a riddle wrapped in a mystery. Nothing in his life had quite prepared him for the experience that was meeting her, knowing her. While the streets of Cairo, the ranks of the French Foreign Legion and prison were filled with _interesting_ characters of all sorts, he had never encountered anyone quite like her. Plenty of people like her brother, yes, but none with her enchanting combination of sharp wit and sincere earnestness. 

It was as if he had spent his entire life running in circles. Never stopping, never going forward. Just chasing one meaningless good time after another. Not the most fulfilling existence, but it was a simple one.

And then Evelyn had walked purposefully into his life, and things grew into a chaotic mess.

Rick believed in always being prepared, and part of that was predicting what other people were going to do. It had saved his life many times, but now it only served to frustrate him. What was her play here?

_I’m hoping to find a certain artifact. A book, actually._

She had said it so easily, as if walking into ruins stained with blood and sand to pick up some light reading was perfectly understandable. There had to be more. But then… she had saved his life on the boat. Then she had quietly borne the strain of travelling days in the desert with only a borrowed dress, a thieving brother and a camel to her name. Then she had smiled brightly at him as she raced towards Hamunaptra, heedless of any danger.

Alright, so maybe he had a bit of an infatuation with her. So he had a bit of a weakness for beautiful women, he wasn’t made of stone. Once he got out of the damn desert, it would pass, and he could return to his normal life. Where no one cared about him and he didn’t care about anyone in return.

* * *

It was official. Rick was in deep. He knew it the second he spied a rolled-up case of tools in one of the American’s saddlebags. He knew it when his first reaction wasn’t blank indifference.

It was _Evelyn will like it_.

And then Rick had swiped it into his bag without a second thought. Sure, it might start a gun fight later. Seeing Evelyn smile at him when he handed it to her would be worth it.

Jesus, when had he gone so soft?

Hell, he was actually getting _nervous_ around her now. Shy, like a teenager asking out his first crush. Not the grown soldier who had stared death in the face countless times. His rationalisations sounded weak even in his own head. _It’ll be easier with three people digging_. _She’ll need it later, so she would have found one anyway_. _This is just more efficient_.

Right, that’s the reason, O’Connell. Absolutely.

As he turned away quickly to swing into the cavern underneath the ruins, he just managed to catch Evelyn’s look of joy as she opened up the leather roll in his peripheral vision. He tried valiantly to ignore how it brought a smile to his face, how it sparked a feeling of warmth somewhere in his chest.

Shit. He still didn’t quite _get_ her, but she already had him wrapped around her little finger. And the worst part? She didn’t even know it.

Rick O’Connell was in serious trouble.

* * *

The night after the mysterious horseman attack, Rick still can’t quite get out of his head that Evelyn had raced after his into battle with nothing but his borrowed shotgun, courage and stubbornness. He _definitely_ can’t get the feel of her in his arms out of his head, or the softness of her cheek under his hand when he was checking her for injuries.

So he decided getting tipsy would help solve his problems. Well, it certainly couldn’t hurt, right?

Unfortunately, he hadn’t made much progress, seeing as Jonathan had downed most of Warden’s scotch and Evelyn had taken a fair amount of what was left. At her urging, he was instead teaching her how to punch.

“Okay tough stuff, try a right hook. Ball up your fist and put it up, like that,” Rick said carefully, guiding her arm into the right position. He couldn’t resist holding her fist for a quick moment, just to make sure she had it right.

“Then mean it,” he continued, holding up his right hand and clapping it with his left. “Hit it, right here.”

“And mean it!” she exclaimed.

Her fist connected well, letting out a loud _crack_ as skin met skin. The force of the blow itself was clearly too much for Evelyn, however; her fist stopped swinging but the rest of her body kept going. Luckily Rick still had his wits about him. He nimbly caught hold her middle, allowing her to fall harmlessly against him. Rick tried (and failed) to ignore the pleasant weight of Evelyn in his arms, the cheerful notes of her laugh in his ears. So much for getting that feeling out his head. Now the two experiences were playing on repeat in his mind, causing a warm, light feeling to spill inexorably into his chest and spread outwards. For her safety and his sanity, he maneuvered Evelyn down into a seat next to the campfire.

“Okay, time for another drink,” he said nervously. He had it meant it for himself, but Evelyn was already reaching to take another swig from the bottle.

“Unlike my brother, sir, I know when to say no,” she replied easily, wincing slightly as the harsh taste of the scotch rolled down her throat.

“Uh huh.”

It was then that Rick decided to bite the bullet and just ask her point blank. What really were her motives for coming all the way to Hamunaptra? He tried to tell himself that he was just making conversation, indulging a passing curiosity. But he couldn’t deny it anymore.

He wanted to find out because he wanted to _know_ her. Understand her. Figure out what she liked and what she didn’t. Learn her hopes and her dreams. And, if she would let him, determine where he fit into it all.

“And unlike your brother, miss, you I just don’t get.”

“I know,” she whispered. “You’re wondering: what is a place like me doing in a girl like this?”

“Yeah, something like that,” he agreed with a nod.

She leaned in close, as if she was sharing some secret knowledge with him. It was somewhere between adorable and distracting.

“Egypt is in my blood, you see,” she said conspiratorially. As she spoke, she opened and held up a small locket she was wearing around her neck. Rick cautiously took it from her, both to get a better look at the picture inside and to give himself an excuse to sit even closer to her.

“My father was a very _very_ famous explorer,” she continued, seemingly unaffected by his proximity. “And he loved Egypt so much he married my mother who was an Egyptian, and quite an adventurer herself.”

Rick hummed in understanding. Alright, that made sense. Adventurer comes to explore in Egypt’s treasures, meets another explorer, falls in love and settles down. He probably wouldn’t have understood that before this trip, but now it made perfect sense. Still...

“I get your father and I get your mother and, uh,” he paused, closed the locket and dropped it like it had burnt him, mostly to distract himself from the reason why he understood Evelyn’s parents so well. Gesturing to Jonathan, he resumed.

“I get him but… what are you doing here?”

Evelyn let out a long, annoyed huff at his question.

“Look! I may not be an explorer-” at that she rose unsteadily to her feet. Rick automatically reached out an arm to steady her but pulled back uncertainty after brushing the small of her back. She simply carried on without notice, gesturing wildly with her hands.

“-or or an adventurer or a treasure seeker or a gunfighter, _Mr O’Connell_! But I am proud of what I am!”

“And… what is that?”

“I am a librarian!” she finished.

It wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Still, it made everything click inside his head. Why was she here? To find the Book of Amun-Ra, just like she had said on the boat. She wanted to find it because she was utterly relentless in her pursuit of knowledge. Especially knowledge of her mother’s homeland. All her spouted facts about ruins and mummies was all because she wanted to learn things, above all else.

Now he gets it.

Without meaning to, a small, awed smile quirks at the edges of his mouth. If he thought he was going soft before, well, this clinches it. He absolutely adored this pure-hearted librarian, with everything he had in him.

Evelyn suddenly dropped to her knees in front of him. Rick figured the drink had finally caught up with her balance, until she spoke.

“And I am going to kiss you, Mr O’Connell,” she said firmly.

Shit.

He should probably stop her or say something to discourage her as she leans forward.

“Call me Rick,” slipped out instead as his heart raced in his chest.

If all Evelyn really wanted was to learn, he hoped that he was one of the things she decided to try and understand. Not just the scoundrel _Mr O’Connell_ who had stolen a kiss through the bars of his cell and thrown her into the Nile. But _Rick_ , the man who had dusted her off after battle and caught her when she fell. The man she had helped him grow into.

“ _Rick_ ,” she whispers softly, as if answering his thoughts. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who got it tonight. Maybe…

Evelyn’s face is an inch away, before the drink really catches up with her and she promptly falls head-first into his lap. Rick sat blinking in confusion for a long beat, as his heart rate slowly dropped to a more normal level. He should feel disappointed, however, as he carefully guided her into her bedroll he felt an odd rush of relief instead.

Love had never really been his thing, until Evelyn dropped into his life and threw him for a loop. He refused to mess up the one chance he had with her. Rick had already stolen one kiss from her, it wouldn’t be right to steal another.

Now that was a new line of thinking for him. What had this girl done to him?

As he tenderly brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, he knew. Evelyn had helped him break out of the uncaring stupor he had lived in for so long. For that, he would gladly follow her to the ends of the Earth, if she let him.

So, he’d do this thing right. Become the kind of man she would be proud to be around, be with, to love. If Rick O’Connell was sure of anything in the mess that his life had become, it was that.

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate summary: Rick learns that the Nile isn't just a river he's jumped into. 
> 
> This turned out a lot longer than I expected! Still, I had a great time going through Rick's thought process and the evolution of his feelings towards Evelyn. I hope you enjoyed reading it too!


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